The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Snap rings are used to limit axial movement of one part relative to another part. In one particular use, a housing has a circumferential groove cut along an inner diameter sized to fit a portion of the snap ring. The snap ring, which is generally of a circular construction having an open section is compressed to fit into the grove and then released such that spring tension maintains the snap ring in place. The snap ring now extends into the inner diameter of the housing and restricts movement of a component in the housing that contacts the snap ring. Other configurations are well known such as having snap rings snapped into place on an internal component wherein the snap rings prevents axial movement due to the snap ring on the internal component making contact with part of the housing.
Transmissions in vehicles often contain gear sets to transmit one or more forward and reverse gear speed ratios between an engine and at least one drive axle. The gear sets are often disposed in gear housings. The gear sets and other transmission components usually require no or limited axial movement. For example, the gears may be limited by a housing that includes retention features, such as a snap ring. For installation purposes, the snap rings are generally open at one end.
To prevent excessive vibration which can effect customer satisfaction and performance of the transmission and the whole vehicle, the snap rings should be balanced taking into consideration the open end of the snap ring. Conventional snap rings are statically balanced prior to assembly in the transmission by removing material in the radial direction, generally opposite of the open end. In order to balance by removing material in the radial direction, the radial thickness must be great enough to have sufficient material to remove. The required thickness of the material makes it difficult to add balanced snap rings in some applications with limited radial space.
It is therefore apparent that improved balanced snap rings in applications with limited radial space are desired.